GitHub Copilot, the AI-powered coding assistant developed by Microsoft-owned GitHub, has now been used by more than 20 million people worldwide, as confirmed by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during the company’s recent earnings call. A GitHub spokesperson later clarified that this figure represents the cumulative number of users who have tried Copilot since its launch.
This milestone comes just three months after Copilot hit 15 million users — indicating that an additional 5 million developers have explored the tool in that short span. However, it remains unclear how many of these users engage with the tool regularly, such as on a monthly or daily basis.
Despite limited clarity on user retention, GitHub Copilot is seeing remarkable adoption among large enterprises. According to Microsoft, 90% of Fortune 100 companies are now using the tool. In fact, enterprise usage alone has grown by 75% compared to the previous quarter.
AI-driven development tools like Copilot are gaining momentum, and are among the few AI applications currently bringing in significant revenue. Satya Nadella noted that Copilot has become a bigger business than GitHub itself was when Microsoft acquired the platform in 2018 — a testament to how rapidly the AI coding space is evolving.
However, when compared to general-purpose AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini, Copilot’s user base is still relatively modest. These conversational AI platforms pull in hundreds of millions of users monthly, while AI coding tools are limited by their niche developer audience.
Still, the value proposition is clear: software developers and companies are willing to pay for tools that increase efficiency. With Microsoft’s enterprise reach and GitHub’s active developer base, Copilot is strategically positioned to lead in the enterprise AI coding sector.
But the competition is intensifying.
Cursor, a fast-growing rival to Copilot, is expanding quickly. As of March, the tool reportedly had over 1 million daily users and was generating around $200 million in recurring revenue. That number has now surged to $500 million, hinting at substantial user growth. Cursor has also been recruiting top talent from emerging AI startups and appears to be closing the gap with GitHub Copilot.
Interestingly, while Copilot and Cursor initially served different aspects of software development, both are now evolving toward a similar product vision — with built-in AI agents capable of identifying bugs, reviewing code, and automating routine programming tasks. Nadella emphasized that GitHub’s AI agents are gaining strong traction within developer communities.
Beyond Cursor, other major tech players are also entering the fray.
Google has acquired talent from Windsurf, an AI coding startup, while Cognition, the maker of AI tool Devin, has also absorbed the rest of the Windsurf team. Meanwhile, OpenAI and Anthropic are expanding their coding-focused tools — Codex and Claude Code respectively — built on their own large language models.
With such heavyweights battling for dominance, it’s clear that AI coding tools represent one of the most dynamic and competitive segments of the AI industry today.
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